The Weight of Spring Sunlight
I wondered why the start of the school year and the beginning of each term had to fall in spring, as if my head hadn’t already suffered enough. Seeing the flower buds slowly opening made the arrival of spring feel undeniably real. When I first arrived it had been chilly, but in just a few days the warm spring sunlight had become something I could actually believe in. Because—
“Look over there. It’s Luke Colwen.”
“They say he burned down the girls’ dormitory because they wouldn’t let him switch rooms.”
“What a piece of trash… you perverted bastard…!”
“My god… why does the academy even allow someone like that to stay? They should expel him immediately.”
The morning sunlight after being drenched in the early spring dawn was warm. A dormitory I had never once entered had burned to the ground. Seriously, why? Fortunately I hadn’t left any luggage there, and it was a relief that Eres and Pih’s rooms—located far away—were unharmed. But that only made it clearer that the fire had been set with me as the target.
“It’s because of your usual behavior. You must have made quite a few enemies.”
“There’s no one I’ve wronged enough to deserve having their dormitory set on fire.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
I was, after all, a count. Not someone who could be harassed just because they found me annoying. If someone secretly threw a milk carton at me, they’d have to follow me up to the rooftop that very day. Setting fire to my lodging? Whoever it was—
“I don’t know who you are, but if I catch you, I’ll make you wish you were dead… Layla.”
“What exactly are you trying to make Lady Layla do this time?”
“Tell her to sue them until she strips the ringleader’s family and all their relatives of every last coin.”
“I believe the world calls that a strategic lawsuit.”
Who the hell taught her that term?! And it’s not even accurate. It’s not like I encouraged her to set the fire. Well, I’ll leave that part to Layla to handle.
“For the safety of Eres and Pih, I have no choice but to stay in the dormitory from now on.”
“Wouldn’t staying far away be more helpful?”
“They set fire to the dormitory while I was gone—doesn’t that tell you everything? They’re cowards who don’t dare confront me directly. If I had been there, they wouldn’t have even come near the building.”
“Haa… so the tent life is finally over. I can’t believe I have to suffer like this just because I met the wrong master.”
“…You’re the one who keeps pretending you’re a proper maid—ow!”
Melina’s sharp low kick struck my shin. Acting like a genuinely employed maid must be some kind of defense mechanism. I don’t even pay her a salary, for crying out loud.
“Ow! …More importantly, there’s something urgent! Think about that first—don’t you think you’re hitting me way too often?!”
“I only release everything that’s built up each time I hit you. So please, I beg you, stop doing things that deserve a beating.”
“I told you to stop hitting me? I’m your master, you know?”
Seriously. How was I supposed to look intimidating when everyone could see my own maid kicking me in broad daylight?
“Yes. So what exactly is this important matter?”
“After beating me up like that… obviously it’s about preparing for what happens next.”
The next main story had a built-in gap in the timeline and would take some time, but I still needed to lay the groundwork and, at the very least, eliminate any variables.
“What horrifying, unspeakable thing are you planning to do this time?”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to do something perfectly wholesome and exemplary.”
“When those words come out of Master’s mouth, it only makes me anxious.”
What I had to do for Episode 2 was, in a sense, the most difficult task I faced.
“It’s studying.”
“Pardon?”
In the original work, Eres barely scraped into the academy. Not only was the academy’s academic level high, but as a country girl who had been too busy working, she had never had much chance to study. After a few classes, she would fall behind and flounder on her own. After scoring a zero on a pop quiz, senior Gabea recommended she join a study group, where she met her second friend, Arte. Becoming close with Arte, whose specialty was teaching, allowed Eres to catch up with the lessons. That was the early part of Episode 2.
“U-um, Miss Eres? You don’t need to write out the solution that far…”
“But this way is easier to understand.”
“Even so, proving every single formula one by one is…”
“So if we consider the flow of heat and make a slight adjustment here, I think it could be launched more stably.”
“Miss Eres. What you just described is indeed an advanced application of fire-attribute magic… but there’s really no need to apply it to a mere Fireball…”
“I can do it, so why not?”
“It’s inefficient to go that far with a low-grade spell.”
“Isn’t wasting energy you don’t need to use the real inefficiency? If you use low-grade magic efficiently, does that consume something else?”
“That’s… ahem.”
“Miss Eres. Do you have any experience writing essays?”
“No.”
“How fascinating. In all my years, you are the first student I’ve seen who wrote a thirty-two-page essay after seeing three mice. According to this, we should call an exterminator before we all catch the plague and die.”
Why is she so good at studying?! In the original story, she was called smart once she caught up, but she was never this ridiculously talented!!!
“This is a disaster, Mel. Eres is too good at studying!”
“Indeed. While Master is hitting rock bottom.”
“Damn it, at this rate I’m the one who’s going to end up joining a study group…!”
“Who said anyone would let you in?”
It’s not that I’m completely hopeless at studying. I went to university on a scholarship, after all. I had memorized all the game’s growth data and even researched methods to become stronger. But ten years. After coming here and spending ten years pushing studies to the back burner, I had simply lost the feel for it. Most problems could be solved without using my head anyway.
In contrast, Eres—
“With the father who only got in the way gone and one less mouth to feed, she finally has time to study. Unlike Master, who comes from a prestigious noble house, my sister is a commoner, so of course her grades were reviewed.”
The protagonist of a fantasy game isn’t supposed to get into the academy just by being good at studying…! There’s a certain romance to that, but she shouldn’t be diving this deep into academics alone…!!
“Instead of worrying about my sister, shouldn’t you worry about your own grades? At this rate you’ll be the one facing expulsion.”
“Don’t exaggerate. It’s not that serious.”
“I look forward to seeing whether you can still say that once your report card reaches the Colwen family.”
“…I suppose I’ll have to do it.”
Layla’s letters had been growing shorter and shorter lately. She clearly had a lot to say but was holding back. She had also stopped bothering with formalities. I was worried she might suddenly send a letter demanding I drop out. But what they taught here was completely different from what I learned in my original world, and the administrative work I had to handle as a count was beyond what my brain could—
“Excuse me!”
“?”
“Y-you’re Count Luke Colwen, correct…?”
It was after class, and the rooftop (which was off-limits) was empty except for us. Yet a female student was approaching from the entrance, her legs visibly trembling.
“This looks serious. That delicate young lady is speaking to Master first. I smell an incident.”
“Indeed. This is a major event.”
“Please don’t take that seriously. You’re scaring me.”
Unfortunately, this really was an incident.
“Um, I…”
“Mel, we’re escaping.”
““Pardon?””
Vibrant red hair and a chest so assertive it looked ready to burst through her clothes. Because of that, she always tried to make herself as small as possible—her timid, anxious, and withdrawn demeanor was immediately obvious. I knew the name of the girl who was hesitantly trying to speak to me.
“I have something I want to say… kyaa!”
“Master? That young lady just tripped over nothing. And what do you mean by escape—”
Her name was Arte. She was supposed to be the main character of Episode 2, the one who helped Eres with her studies.
“Mel, don’t you want to fly through the sky?”
“Master? You know I hate high places, right…?”
“Overcome it today.”
“No, I don’t want to. Don’t do it. Seriously, please, Master, no—kyaaaaa!!!”
The sixth floor was higher than I expected. Of course we were fine. To be precise, the result of combining my leaping power with a sixth-floor height. The hang time was longer than anticipated.
“Sorry. I was trying to reach the dormitory at least.”
“Hic… sniff… huuuh…”
I didn’t think Melina’s fear of heights was this severe. She couldn’t even walk, so I had no choice but to carry her. She had sobbed and begged to be carried, and since I was in a hurry this time, I decided to indulge her. Good grief. Where else would you find a master who does this much for his own maid? Why don’t the students at this school spread word of my caring side instead?
“I’ll train alone today, so you rest in the room.”
“…I don’t want to right now.”
“In your current condition you’d only get in the way. It’s an order, so go inside. You prefer being away from me anyway, don’t you?”
“…”
Melina’s arms tightened around my neck.
“When we go in… you’re going to use the window, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Our room is on the third floor…”
“If you close your eyes—”
This time the squeeze carried a hint of genuine anger. It used to be the fourth floor, actually. After the fire we had to change rooms, but we couldn’t pick the second floor with Eres, so when I suggested an untouched fourth-floor room she had freaked out and refused. So that was why. Come to think of it, in a world without elevators, the higher floors really were the most inconvenient. The first floor was the most luxurious.
“Just stay here and watch quietly.”
“I’m watching because it looks like you’ll run away.”
“You know that once I start I won’t have the presence of mind for that. And even if I did run, I could just catch you again.”
“…That’s true. In the end, I can’t run away from Master anyway.”
I left her quite far away and began today’s training.
“Huuuup…”
I pulled back the strength I had been suppressing almost all day for daily life, then poured even more power into it.
“Uoraaaaaaaa!!!”
I struck. Harder. Faster. So that even when hit more painfully, I could endure the pain. Stomach, chest, arms, legs, feet, back, heart, head. At first it had been training to raise my defense, but now that I couldn’t find a target harder than my own body, I continued this regimen.
Still too slow. Can’t I get any faster from here?
The thugs in Babbage couldn’t see my hands or feet when I hit them. They marveled that they could only hear the sounds of impact even though I stood still. After hearing that, I got cocky and showed Rin, but that woman could still see what I was doing. After that I aimed for speeds that even Rin and the other executives couldn’t perceive.
“Huuuu…”
If I could endure it, that is.
“…It hurts…!”
My current self was incomparably tougher than back then, but my own fists still hurt. Even if I wanted to keep going for a long time, as my defense rose, so did my strength and speed, so the pain remained the same.
Maybe I should rest a little here…
If I had a skill that let me ignore pain, I would have become much stronger by now. Or maybe not? If I didn’t know when to stop and kept going, I might have died.
“Is Melina all right? She looked quite unwell earlier. You should seriously avoid high places from now on…”
“Excuse me! Are you the maid of Count Luke?!”
Hm? My highly developed hearing caught a voice coming from quite far away. The source of the sound. That red-haired girl standing next to Melina in the distance. That was definitely the one I saw earlier…
“I want to help His Lordship with his studies! Please help me convince him!”
“Um… you mean our master?”
“Yes!”
“…What exactly do you want…?”
Only a few days had passed since the end of Episode 1. And just because I was ridiculously bad at studying, I had already twisted the story.